Exam glitch erroneously fails some medical students

The computer error doesn't appear to have hindered most students' ability to land a residency.

By Myrle Croasdale, AMNews staff. May 9, 2005.

The new clinical skills exam hit and recently fixed a snag in its testing: A computer bug incorrectly failed 38 of the 8,000 students who took the test between Jan. 12 and March 30.

Peter Scoles, MD, the National Board of Medical Examiners' senior vice president for assessment programs, said they discovered a software problem during a quality control check of the U.S. Medical Licensing Examination Step 2 Clinical Skills exam results. This is the first year that graduating medical school students are required to take the test, which organized medicine initially met with resistance but has since accepted.

Dr. Scoles said that he was personally calling those who the problem affected. The error is "something that the organization deeply regrets, but it [uncovering the error] shows the kind of process that we're committed to, to keep checking and rechecking," he said.

Of the 38 students affected, 14 were from U.S. medical schools and 24 were from international programs. Dr. Scoles said the students took the news well.

"I've talked to nine of the 14 [U.S. students] and with few exceptions things have turned out OK," he said, "Eight have residencies so far."

Those who took the test before Jan. 12 or after March 30 were not impacted, and their scores stand.

NBME officials also contacted the deans of the U.S. medical schools where each of the students is enrolled. A corrected score report is being sent to organizations that received the previous, incorrect results, and the board is establishing a personal liaison to help students who encountered problems resulting from the computer glitch.